Born in
1818, Charles Vereydhen was a Dutch-Belgian architect, carpenter, and contractor. He emigrated to
Victoria,
British Columbia in the late 1850s and settled his professional practice on the corner of Fort Street
and Douglas. He claimed to
have long experience in Europe and the U.S.
Throughout his time in
Victoria, Vereydhen erected many buildings and worked with other architects and clients to
establish
the erection of Brick or Frame Buildings of any kind or style [sic].
Most notably, Vereydhen was the supervising architect on the creation of the first
wing and central entrance of
St. Ann's convent,
a religious congregation consecrated for the teaching of the young.
Vereydhen also re-built the Driard House Hotel, a colonial hotel described as
one of the swell places of that day.
Amongst his other projects, he built a public theatre, several private residences, the Hotel De France, and the Metropolitan Hotel. In a despatch from
18 March 1869,
Governor Seymour asked
Earl Granville to obtain
from a person named Verheyden…his consent to the Marriage of his daughter Pauline
to Gustave Bruart. In a follow-up letter, Vereydhen noted that he had
no knowledge of this engagement,
and promised to
write to [his] daughter by the next mail.
Currently, there is no record of his reply to the minister's request. On
10 January 1872, Vereydhen passed away at
the French Hospital
of unknown causes.